LinkedIn dating? India chief says platform to remain professional networking only

LinkedIn may be designed for professional networking, but its India chief acknowledged that the platform has increasingly become a place where some users look for romantic connections.

Speaking at the Business Today India@100 event, LinkedIn India Country Manager and Product Head Kumaresh Pattabiraman was asked about a recent Wall Street Journal report suggesting that LinkedIn was becoming a dating platform despite its rules against romance.

“It's funny, every other year I have someone on the team pitch this as an idea,” Pattabiraman said, adding that LinkedIn employees have even built “hack day prototypes” around the concept.

However, he said the platform's core purpose would remain unchanged.

“At our core, again, it comes back to economic opportunity,” Pattabiraman said, stressing that the purpose behind connections on LinkedIn needs to remain clear.

He said LinkedIn wants women in particular to feel that the platform is a place they can trust, where they can access professional opportunities. “That’s why we will continue to remain a community of professionals that's in pursuit of economic opportunity,” he said.

Watch the full conversation here: